The Fear of God is
Posted on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 at 2:52 PM by David Zavadil
Ps 19:9 the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.
Ps 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!
Pr 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Pr 8:13 The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.
Pr 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
Pr 14:27 The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.
Pr 15:33 The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor.
Isa 33:6 and he will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is Zion’s treasure.
As we continue in our study of the subject of the fear of God, let me move to some Biblical descriptions of the fear of God A search of the Scriptures finds eight verses including the phrase, "the fear of the LORD is." Today I want to look at each of these verses and seek to learn a little more about what it means to fear the LORD.
Ps 19:9 the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.
This verse from Psalm 19 states that the fear of the LORD has two characteristics; it is pure and it is enduring. First, let me address the thought that the fear of the LORD is clean. The phrase could also be translated that, "the fear of the LORD is pure." There is nothing in holy fear that defiles God or the awe we are to have. It is a fear looks to the ultimate source of purity, Jesus Christ, and realizes that apart from Christ we can not be pure. "And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure." 1 John 3:3, ESV. Thus for the New Testament believer, the fear of the LORD intimately involves our relationship to Jesus Christ. To be pure in Christ is to be able to fear the LORD. Without Christ we could not and will not fear God, but will fear that which is impure and unclean. "To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled." Titus 1:15, ESV. A healthy fear of God brings clarity of mind, brings purity of thought and clean, right decisions.
This verse also tell us that the fear of the LORD is enduring forever. The fear of God didn't end with the Old Testament. It was not some how intricately linked to the Mosaic covenant and with the entrance of the New Covenant in Christ the fear of the LORD is no longer necessary. As Christ reigns eternally, the fear of the LORD continues eternally. As the Spirit of God works in us, each and every day for all of our known and unknown days we will be confronted with the awesomeness of our Almighty God. The fear of God is not that one time event that occurs just before our conversion but a daily life style that is based on our faith in Christ. An understanding of the fear of God is missing from many Christian's lives. This passage tells us that the fear of God should be an everyday happening as long as we live.
Ps 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!
Pr 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
Pr 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
In these three verses we read that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom and of knowledge. We should first note that the fear of the LORD is the starting place. We are not to wait until we become wise or until we reach some age of maturity to begin really "fearing God." If we truly desire to grow in the wisdom and knowledge of the LORD, we must begin with a healthy fear of God. It is this fear of God that will bring us wisdom and knowledge and give us good understanding. My brother in law, when ever someone had a question about something, would say, "Ask David, he knows everything." It seemed that every time we talked I knew someting about the topic we were discussing. Now that was partly because I am a "know it all who has to be right all the time" ( a sinful attitude I am working on) and partly that my head is filled with all kinds of trivia. This is neither wisdom or knowledge, it is simply trivia. The beginning of my wisdom and knowledge is this, "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5, ESV. Without Christ, I know nothing, I can do nothing, I am nothing. The fear of the LORD will bring about wisdom and knowledge, not trivia.
The writer of Proverbs writes, Pr 15:33 The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom, and humility comes before honor. Here we find that not only is the fear of the LORD the beginning of wisdom, it is the way we learn about wisdom. To learn and know what is truly of God, what is true wisdom, we must fear God. My friends, if you desire to learn to be wiser in your life, begin by fearing God. To understand true wisdom, begin to understand the true and living God. The fear of the LORD is instruction in wisdom. As you humbly and reverently come before the King of Glory you will begin to learn more and more about Him. The word translated instruction literally means discipline, correction or chastisement. A healthy fear of the LORD realizes that the corrections God brings our way is beacuse He loves us and wants us to be more like Him. Heb 12:6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives." ESV A God fearing man begins to learn that to fall away, to turn to self, to rebel will lead to discipline, this brings about a beneficial and growing fear of the LORD and this is wisdom.
Pr 8:13 The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.
The fear of the LORD is also a hatred of evil. Many will read this passage and say, "well I hate satan and anything satanic. Is that all that is meant here? " The Bible makes it clear that anything that is opposite of the LORD is evil. Every thought that suplants a thought of God, every action that replaces a godly action, every word that replaces a glorifying word is evil. It is a perverting of God's creation in a way that is evil. It is far more than just "the Devil made me do it." The evil that is to be hated is anything that is contrary to God. We see evil around us every day. you turn on the news and hear about murders, rapes, drugs and alcohol addictions and say, "that stuff is evil." In Matthew 15 Jesus redefines our view of evil, Mt 15:19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. ESV Evil is no longer a toy of the Devil, it is in the heart of man. The man who fears the LORD will hate all evil, especially the evil in his own life. What thoughts in your life are evil? What influences around you are evil? Is your fear of the LORD greater than your love for these thoughts or vices?
Pr 14:27 The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.
Isa 33:6c ...the fear of the LORD is Zion’s treasure.
The final two verses we will examine speak to our hearts and faith. The fear of the LORD is a part of and demonstrated in our salvation. To overcome death and gain new life we must come to Christ. Jesus, speaking to the Samaritan woman, said,''If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.''" John 4:10, ESV. Later He says, ‘‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” John 7:37b, ESV. Jesus made it clear that He is the water of life, the fountain of life. To fear God apart from a loving faith in Christ is impossible. The fountain of life, we are told in Pr 14:27, turns us away from the snares of death. Jesus said it this way, "I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand." John 10:28, ESV. A God fearing man is one who is set in his relationship with Christ. His eyes are on the cross. A God fearing man will be drinking of the fountain of life daily.
Isaiah tells us that "the fear of the LORD is Zion's treasure."Isa 33:6c ESV The fear of the LORD enables us to, through the Holy Spirit, be a storehouse, a treasure of God's. A treasurey or storehouse was used as a central keeping place to take care of an entire community. To fear God is to be treasured by God. God desires our hearts and souls. He wants our full devotion and life. As we come to Him in the Fear of the LORD, he imparts to us, throught the Spirit, all that is His. We become a living storehouse, treasure of the LORD's. We inherit all that He has as his adopted children. We now become the place that our neighbors and aliens in need of comfort are to turn. Though we are filled with the priceless treasure of life through Christ, it is not meant to be hoarded by us, but shared with those around us. We are not to hide our faith in a bottle in the ground but we are to let it be seen. A God fearing man or woman is someone who knows the treasure of God so intimately that he or she wants to share it with others, that they might be blessed also.
What is your perspective of the Fear of the LORD? Do you seek the purity found in Christ? Do you fear what would happen in your life without the purifying Spirit of God within you? Are you growing in your wisdom and knowledge of the LORD? Do you hate those things that are contrary to God? Have you taken a drink from the fountain of life? The fear of the LORD is all of this and more. Join me next week as we examine this topic further.
Edited on: Sunday, November 18, 2007 3:19 PMPosted in Bible Study (RSS), Fear of God (RSS)
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